Snack foods, for example, french fries, nacho chips, or pretzel nuggets, are often eaten along with condiments including ketchup, dipping sauce, ranch dressing, melted cheese, and the like. Such snack foods are often enjoyed at sporting events, arenas or concerts. In those environments, a person has a cramped space in which to enjoy their snack food and, thus, eating can at times be difficult. In addition, people at sporting events, arenas or concerts often have both hands occupied, perhaps holding a beverage in one hand, and their snack food of choice in the other. Even at a local bar, pub or tavern, there is often limited space in which to enjoy a food item.
Foods such as snack foods are often served in a food container cup for convenient and economic reasons. Rather than smother an entire portion of food in a dipping sauce or condiment such as ketchup, most people prefer to dip a snack food into ketchup or other dipping sauce, thus regulating the amount of ketchup or other dipping sauce to suit their personal preference. However, when a cup or similar container is used to dispense the snack food, as is the case at, for example, arenas, a person must apply the ketchup or other dipping sauce directly to the top layer of snack food. This results in the top layer of snack food being immersed in ketchup or dipping sauce, and the lower layers of snack food completely devoid of any of the desired ketchup or dipping sauce. In addition, a person must inevitably dip their fingers into the ketchup or dipping sauce in order to take the snack food from the top layer.
Food packages have been pre-formed with flaps or pockets to hold condiments. Such food packages consist of complicated arrangements, and must be manufactured so that the condiment container is a permanent part of the food package. In addition, such food packages cannot be adjusted or moved by a person eating the food.
Other known condiment containers are essentially small troughs. These troughs do not accommodate the shape of known condiment cups. Soufflé cups are often used by establishments such as restaurant as condiment holders, or for dispending condiments from bulk containers or pumps. For example, soufflé cups sold under the brand name SOLO® are generally cylindrical or frustoconical, as shown in the examples of FIGS. 8, 9, and 13-15. These cups come in various industry standard sizes, such as 1½ oz (44.4 ml), 2 oz (59.1 ml), 2½ oz (73.9 ml), 3¼ oz (96.1 ml), 4 oz (118.3 ml), and 5½ oz (162.7 ml). Other known pleated soufflé cups are offered under the brand name SWEETHEART®, are cylindrical or frustoconical, and are offered in various sizes. The known trough condiment holders cannot readily accommodate these industry standard soufflécups.
Still other known condiment holders are suspended directly from the sides of food packages. These arrangements are awkward and unbalanced. In addition, these know arrangements cannot be firmly attached to food packages, and can result in spills.
Yet other condiment holders are positioned adjacent the upper lip of a cup or food package. This creates an awkward and unbalanced arrangement, which can also easily result in spills. For example, a thick dipping sauce, such as melted cheese, could easily topple the food container to which the condiment cup is attached. This is more likely as a person consumes the contents of the food container, whereby the food container cup will become lighter and topple more easily. In addition, there is very little support for the condiment cup, as the attachment means must carry the weight of the condiment cup, plus the weight of the ketchup or dipping sauce in the condiment cup.
Thus, there is the need for a condiment holder that can be used in connection with any commercially available food container or cup.
There is also the need for a condiment holder that can be secured firmly to a food container, without having to specially manufacture food containers for receiving such a condiment holder.
There is even further the need for a condiment holder that attaches to a food holder such as a cup that provides for a sturdy arrangement with less potential for spilling the condiment or tipping the food holder.
There is even further the need for a condiment holder that accommodates known, industry standard soufflé cups.
The present invention satisfies these needs.